Calls to the FCC on Wilmington NC DTV Day 3 continued to diminish, going from 797 on Day 1, to 424 on Day 2, all the way down to 281. Of these, 26 were in the “must live under a rock” category, caught unawares, bringing the FCC-exclusive three day total to 84. In all fairness, however, out of the 84, only 23 were completely in the dark. 61 did know something was going down involving their television set involving digital broadcasting. Of the 61, 24 got the date wrong and 37 somehow believed the transition was only going to affect stations other than the ones they watch. Consumers losing Wilmington stations, with 79 calls, edged out those with reception/technical problems, 78 of whom phoned in. Only 29 were having difficulty hooking up a converter box.
RBR/TVBR observation: So at least 37 people thought this was something that only happens to those other people – those crazy nuts who tune in stations that might transition to digital at any moment. Unbelievable. We suppose at the end of every DTV PSA, from now on, Uncle Sam will have to appear, point his finger directly at the camera and say, “This means you.”
FCC BREAKDOWN OF CONSUMER CALLS, DAY 3
NOT AWARE OF THE TRANSITION
They were not aware of the switch to DTV: 4
They were unaware of the correct transition date: 9
They did not think the stations they watch would switch to digital: 13
Subtotal: 26
AWARE BUT DID NOT ACT
They forgot to upgrade: 3
They were unable to attain assistance to upgrade: 1
They relied on another member of their household to upgrade: 0
They waited too long to buy or set up a digital set or a converter box: 14
They were out of town or too busy or knew they could do it later: 1
Subtotal: 19
PROBLEMS WITH THE CONVERTER BOX COUPON PROGRAM
A coupon did not arrive in time: 9
Wanted coupon or had not received coupon from NTIA: 20
The retail store was out of boxes: 0
Subtotal: 29
INITIAL DIFFICULTY WITH THEIR CONVERTER BOXES
Setting up converter boxes was too hard: 13
They didn’t understand the instructions for the digital set or the converter box: 8
Their converter box "didn’t work": 8
Subtotal: 29
RECEPTION AND TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
Their antenna didn’t work/no antenna/antenna wasn’t connected: 11
Problem with channel or call sign: 25
Weak or spotty signal: 42
Subtotal: 78
NOT RECEIVING WILMINGTON SIGNALS
Problem with channel or call sign: 79
Subtotal: 79
OTHER PROBLEMS
Satellite subscribers to Dish/Direct TV – did not subscribe to local package: 18
They thought all their sets were hooked up to cable or satellite: 0
They were waiting for cable or satellite installation: 1
Wanted DTV consumer information sent to them: 2
Subtotal: 21
Total: 281
Source: FCC
